Arab Summit Meeting Termed Success for King Hussein

The Arab rump summit meeting in Tripoli, Libya, called to consider the Jordanian regime’s moves against the Palestinians, was termed by officials here as a success for King Hussein. They said today that no operative decisions had been taken against Jordan. The Arab heads of states took Hussein to task verbally and issued threats. According to informed sources here, however, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is reluctant to put teeth into any such decisions and would rather work out a common solution with King Feisal of Saudi Arabia. The other participants-Syria, Sudan, South Yemen and Yemen-are unlikely to act unless Egypt gives the lead, according to these informed sources. Reports here noted that Libya’s military leader, Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi, met with much less success in his efforts to tighten Arab ranks against Israel than did the late Egyptian President Nasser. Qaddafi, who opened the Arab summit meeting last Friday, presented a plan to end by military intervention Hussein’s crackdown on the Palestinian guerrillas. Much of the opposition by the Arab leaders at the meeting, according to reports, was based on grounds that such a plan would open the way for Israel to advance across the Jordan River cease-fire line. Israel had warned that she will not stand idle if Jordan’s Arab neighbors move their armies against Hussein. Meanwhile, it was learned here that the Syrian-Jordanian border had not been closed despite a Syrian announcement last week that it would do so. Trucks are going through in both directions. It is, therefore, taken that the announcement was mainly a public relations device.